Nursing home back in compliance

ºState Health Department revisited site last week.

November 17, 2011|MARY KATE MALONE | South Bend Tribune

Robert Franklin, South Bend Tribune

SOUTH BEND -- A local nursing home cited in September for having widespread rodent activity in its kitchen, basement and residential rooms has been brought back into compliance, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.

Cardinal Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 1121 E. LaSalle Ave., was placed in an "immediate jeopardy" situation by the Health Department when state surveyors visited the 107-resident facility on Sept. 19.

Health Department officials revisited the nursing home last week and determined it was back in compliance, according to department spokesman Ken Severson. The "immediate jeopardy" designation, however, was removed on Sept. 21, records show.

Mice droppings were found in various areas in the kitchen, on the floor, under a sink, on a ledge, and on two dish carts near drinking glasses, according to Health Department records from the inspection.

In the dry food storage area in the basement, officials found mice droppings on top of, or inside, various cardboard boxes containing packaged food. Officials also found a chewed hole in a bag of dry milk, according to records.

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Black ants were allegedly found in the dining room by the heating and cooling unit. Five residents said they had seen a mouse in their bedroom, some of them multiple times. The administrator told surveyors no residents had expressed concerns about rodent or ant problems.

When surveyors questioned the facility's dietary manager, he provided a blank dietary cleaning schedule for review, according to Health Department records. Another nursing home official told surveyors the facility did not have a cleaning checklist for the kitchen.

Because of the rodent activity, the facility was placed in "immediate jeopardy," meaning that it had caused or was likely to cause serious injury, harm, impairment or death to a resident.

Such designations are rare. Of 2,000 Health Department inspections completed so far this year at Indiana nursing homes, there have been 44 "immediate jeopardy" situations, according to the Health Department.

Residents and their family members are not notified when an "immediate jeopardy" situation is identified, according to Severson. He declined to explain why.

Steven Sanders, Cardinal's executive director, referred questions to its parent company, Indianapolis-based American Senior Communities. An official there made an initial contact with The Tribune but never called back.

After the Health Department inspection in September, the facility offered a plan to correct the problem.

It stated that it deep-cleaned and sanitized the affected areas, that the kitchen and dry food area would be inspected twice daily, and a pest control service would visit five times per week until the pest problem was "eradicated," among other measures.

It also stated that staff would be "re-educated" on reporting any pest activity they observe.

The Health Department visited the nursing home as part of a recertification and state licensure inspection. Cardinal remains a licensed and certified nursing home.